Apology for priest’s gay marriage remarks

THE BISHOP of Ardagh and Clonmacnois has apologised after one of his priests said the passing of the gay marriage referendum in Ireland and divorce legislation were the work of the devil and would lead to the destruction of humanity, writes Sarah Mac Donald.

In his statement, Bishop Francis Duffy said Nigerian Fr Joseph Okere of St Mel’s Cathedral in Longford had not intended to hurt anyone when he had made the comments in a homily at Sunday Mass.

Longford LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) expressed dismay at Fr Okere’s views. The support group was contacted by a gay member of the congregation, Edmund Byrne, who said the priest’s words were “like a slap in the face”.

Fr Brendan Hoban of the Association of Catholic Priests called on the Irish bishops to do more to prepare priests from abroad coming to minister in Ireland and to familiarise them with the sensitivities of the people in the pews.

“I think it is very unfair to the individual priests to, in a sense, dump them into a culture and a language that they are unfamiliar with. Ministry in Ireland at the moment is a very delicate and complex business,” he said.

Fr Hoban underlined that there are particular issues relating to sexual matters where Irish people are particularly critical of the Catholic Church. “I think priests coming to Ireland need to be very aware of the nuances of our culture and society in terms of that.”

The Co. Mayo-based parish priest said the real difficulty with importing priests is that it is seen as a solution to the vocations crisis “and really it is a matter of kicking the can down the road”.